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South Asia Investor Review is focused on reporting, analyzing and discussing the economy and the financial markets of countries in South Asia, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. For investors looking to invest in emerging markets beyond BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), this blog is designed to help international investors looking to learn about investing in South Asia with focus on Pakistan. Riaz has another blog called Haq's Musings at http://www.riazhaq.com

Dozen British Pakistanis Elected to UK Parliament in Elections 2017

Twelve British Pakistanis, including 5 women, have been elected members of parliament (MPs) in recent elections held in the United Kingdom, according to media reports. Seven of them are members of the Labor Party and three belong to the Conservative Party. This sets a new record with the increase of two MPs from the May 2012 elections that resulted in the election of 10 MPs of Pakistani origin. British Pakistanis make up 1.8% of the British population, about the same as their representation in the House of Commons.

Six of the Twelve British-Pakistani MPs

British Pakistani MPs and Peers:

In addition to the 12 British Pakistanis in the House of Commons, there are 8 members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, bringing the total strength of British Pakistanis in the UK parliament to 20. Most of them are from very humble backgrounds in rural Pakistan. Majority of Pakistanis in the UK are from Mirpur and its surrounding villages in Azad Kashmir. They or their parents migrated to Britain when they were given compensation by Pakistani government for their land to make way for the building of the massive Mangla Dam after the signing of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan in 1960. Five of the twelve British Pakistani MPs in the new parliament are from Azad Kashmir.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan:

Last year saw the election of Sadiq Khan as mayor of London, making him the first Muslim mayor of a major western capital city. Mayor Sadiq Khan is also of Pakistani-origin. Khan's father migrated to Britain in 1960s and worked as a London bus driver. Khan comes from a family of two generations of immigrants: His grandparents migrated from what is now India to the newly created state of Pakistan in 1947 and his parents migrated from Karachi to London in 1969. Sadiq Khan was born in London in 1970.

British Pakistanis' Struggles:

While the British Pakistanis have made some headway in the public sector in their new home, they continue to face discrimination, particularly in the private sector. A 2016 study by the government’s Social Mobility Commission found that the "children of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin in Britain have outperformed other ethnic groups to achieve rapid improvements at every level of education, but are significantly less likely to be employed in managerial or professional jobs than their white counterparts".

The study said that the "minority ethnic pupils (including Pakistanis) are outperforming white working class children in English tests throughout school, with white British teenagers coming bottom of the pile in the subject at GCSE level".

British Pakistani Doctors:

Pakistan is the second largest source of doctors of foreign origin serving in the United Kingdom, according to OECD. Indians make up 34% of the foreign doctors in Britain, followed by 11% from Pakistan.

Summary:

British Pakistanis have achieved significant success in spite of their humble origins and discrimination they face in their adopted home. 12 of them serve as members of the House of Commons and 8 in the House of Lords. Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, the first Muslim leader of a major western capital, is the son of a London bus driver who migrated from Pakistan. British Pakistani children are outperforming their white working class peers in schools. British Pakistani doctors are the second largest population of doctors of foreign origin in the United Kingdom. The British Pakistanis are among the best of the Pakistani diaspora, or any diaspora, in the world.

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The Gapminder animations based on data compiled by Prof Hans Rosling show that life expectancy in Pakistan has jumped from 32 years in 1947 to 67 years now, and per Capita inflation-adjusted PPP income has risen from $766 in 1948 to over $5,000 now. http://www.gapminder.org/tools/#_locale_id=en;&chart-type=bubbles

LONDON: Sajid Javid was appointed as Britain’s home secretary on Monday after Amber Rudd resigned over her handling of immigration policy.

Here are some facts about the new, 48-year-old home secretary:

Javid campaigned to remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum, even though a few months before the vote he said his “heart” was for Brexit. After the result, he said: “We’re all Brexiteers now.”He was the first member of Britain’s South Asian minority to be given a full-time post in the cabinet when he was appointed culture minister in 2014. His father moved to Britain from Pakistan and worked as a bus driver in Bristol.Before starting his career in politics, Javid worked for Chase Manhattan Bank and for Deutsche Bank, helping to build its business in emerging markets.Javid cites the late Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher as his political inspiration, and has often hung a portrait of her in his ministerial office.In 2016, Javid supported the former work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb as a candidate to replace then-prime minister David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party in return for a promise to be appointed finance minister. Crabb’s bid ultimately foundered when he failed to secure enough votes.New interior minister has drive, determination: PM May’s spokesperson

Javid has shown drive, ambition and determination to get to grips with difficult subjects, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesperson said.

British-Pakistani MP removed as UK’s business secretary

Describing Javid as one of the most experienced ministers around the cabinet table, the spokesperson said he would need those skills in his new job.

The spokesperson said no further ministerial changes were expected after Javid’s and two other appointments were announced earlier.

BIRMINGHAM: A British Pakistani councilor has made history by taking oath as the youngest mayor of the historic English city of Worcester.

Councillor Jabbar Riaz, 40, who was also the deputy mayor of the city in 2017/18 was elected for the third consecutive term successfully after defending his seat representing Labour party from Cathedral ward in the recent local elections.

Cllr Riaz, whose family is originally from Dadyal, Azad Kashmir, is also the second British Pakistani to be elected as the mayor of Worcester. Cllr Allah Ditta of Conservative party was the first British Pakistani mayor of this city back in 2004.

Cllr Riaz also started his political career with the Conservative party and was elected as a councilor from Cathedral ward for the first time in 2010.

Around 250 British-Pakistanis elected in May 3 local elections in England

But in 2013 he left Tories for the Labour party due to the policies of the central government of then PM David Cameron. After a tough battle in 2014 local elections, he succeeded again but this time as a Labour councilor with a slim majority of just 198 votes.

In 2017, Cllr Riaz resigned from the cabinet where he was in charge of leisure services due to family commitments. In these elections, Cllr Riaz won again from Cathedral ward by beating fellow Pakistani Nida Hassan, who was representing Conservative party but with a much clearer majority of 292 votes.

Nida Salman is the niece of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, senior PML-N politician and speaker of Pakistan’s national assembly.

Mayor of Worcester CllrJabbar Riaz with his father Mohammed Riaz, mother, wife Sajeeda Begum, Sons Sami Riaz & Isa Riaz, niece Romana Ali and other members of the family. Photo: Geo NewsCllr Riaz in his maiden speech as the new mayor of Worcester said that he feels proud and humbled. He thanked the residents of his ward, friends, family and especially his parents and wife who not only voted for him but also supported him through the election period.

As the mayor, he represents the whole city and he is grateful to Almighty Allah for honoring him with this position.

“My Mayoral theme this year will be ‘Love not Hate’ and it is especially fitting this year as we mark the 100th anniversary of Armistice day where people from across the commonwealth fought and died,” said Cllr Riaz told Geo News.

He further added that his aim is to unite and bring communities together under the banner of peace. The Brexit vote has seen hate crime rise and attacks increase and my aim is to educate and spread the message of kindness, dispel myths and break down barriers.

The Mayoral oath-taking ceremony took place in city’s historic Guildhall during a full council meeting, which was attended by the fellow councilors, family, and friends along with other members of the public.

Cllr Jabbar Riaz’s father Mr. Mohammed Riaz, who was also in politics and was elected as councilor from the same Cathedral ward from 2004-10 representing Conservative party, said that it is an absolutely a proud moment for not only him or the family but for the whole community.

“More Pakistani youngsters should be encouraged to take part in local politics as their future lies in this country. Young generation should join the British political parties so they can serve this country and their community,” added Mohammed Riaz.

Cllr Riaz, Sajeeda Begum, who is also the Mayoress now said that her husband has worked extremely hard not only in the recent local election but throughout his career as councilor and this is the next step ahead for him.

"It’s absolutely wonderful that as the representative of Muslim community he is now the second Muslim mayor of this city," she said.

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San Francisco based Cloudcade has announced it will invest $6 million to set up a game development studio in Lahore, Pakistan, according to Venturebeat.

The Lahore studio will be led by Ammar Zaeem, cofounder of Pakistan’s mobile game studio Caramel Tech which already has a team of 50 engineers.
The move is a big investment into Pakistan as a tech hub, and it shows how the game business is expanding around the globe.

Cloudcade:

Founded by Di Huang in 2013, Cloudcade is known for its popular multiplayer game "Shop Heroes" that pits players against each other in a competition to create the best shop they can. If a player can make a better store and perform more tasks than his or her rivals, he or she wins.

The game is available on the Apple iOS App Store, Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store, Amazon, Kongregate, and Facebook. It is now also supported on the Apple Watch.

43.5% of Indians, the highest percentage in the world, say they do not want to have a neighbor of a different race, according to a Washington Post report based on World's Values Survey.

About Pakistan, the report says that "although the country has a number of factors that coincide with racial intolerance – sectarian violence, its location in the least-tolerant region of the world, low economic and human development indices – only 6.5 percent of Pakistanis objected to a neighbor of a different race. This would appear to suggest Pakistanis are more racially tolerant than even the Germans or the Dutch".

Housing Discrimination:

It appears that there is a small but militant minority in Pakistan that is highly intolerant, but the vast majority of people are tolerant. My own experience as a former Karachi-ite is that there is little or no race or religion based housing segregation, the kind that is rampant in India where Muslims are not welcome in most Hindu-dominated neigh…

Pakistan's human development ranking plunged to 150 this year, down from 149 last year. It is worse than Bangladesh at 136, India at 130 and Nepal at 149. The decade of democracy under Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has produced the slowest annual growth rate in the last 30 years. The fastest growth in Pakistan human development was seen in 2000-2010, a decade dominated by President Musharraf's rule, according to the latest Human Development Report 2018.

Human Development in Pakistan:

UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) represents human progress in one indicator that combines information on people’s health, education and income.

Pakistan saw average annual HDI (Human Development Index) growth rate of 1.08% in 1990-2000, 1.57% in 2000-2010 and 0.95% in 2010-2017, according to Human Development Indices and Indicators 2018 Statistical Update. The fastest growth in Pakistan human development was seen in 2000-2010, a decade dominated by President M…

I am the Founder and President of PakAlumni Worldwide, a global social network for Pakistanis, South Asians and their friends. I also served as Chairman of the NEDians Convention 2007. In addition to being a South Asia watcher, an investor, business consultant and avid follower of the world financial markets, I have more than 25 years experience in the hi-tech industry. I have been on the faculties of Rutgers University and NED Engineering University and cofounded two high-tech startups, Cautella, Inc. and DynArray Corp and managed multi-million dollar P&Ls. I am a pioneer of the PC and mobile businesses and I have held senior management positions in hardware and software development of Intel’s microprocessor product line from 8086 to Pentium processors. My experience includes senior roles in marketing, engineering and business management. I was recognized as “Person of the Year” by PC Magazine for my contribution to 80386 program. I have an MS degree in Electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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